PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The works of the Reverend George Whitefield, M.A., Vol. 6 (of 6) : Containing all his sermons and tracts, etc.
Whitefield, George, 1714-1770 · 155,592 words · 214 reading sections
Part 121
Dare ye then to confess our blessed Master before men, and to shine as lights in the world, amidst a crooked and perverse generation? Let us not be content with following him afar off; for then we shall, as _Peter_ did, soon deny him; but let us be altogether christians, and let our speech, and all our actions declare …
165 wordsSECTION 122SERMON XLVI.
Of Justification by CHRIST. 1 CORINTHIANS vi. 11. _But ye are justified._ The whole verse is: _And such were some of you; but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of our LORD JESUS CHRIST, and by the Spirit of our GOD_. IT has been objected by some, who dissent from, nay, I may add…
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“But ye are justified,” says the apostle; which is, as though he had said, you have your sins forgiven, and are looked upon by GOD as though you never had offended him at all: for that is the meaning of the word justified, in almost all the passages of holy scripture where this word is mentioned. Thus, when this same a…
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I have been more particular in treating of this point, because it is the very foundation of the christian religion: For I am verily persuaded, that it is nothing but a want of being well grounded in the doctrine of original sin, and of the helpless, nay, I may say, damnable condition, each of us comes into the world in…
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Let us then stand a while, and see in what a deplorable condition each of us comes into the world, and still continues, till we are translated into a state of grace. For surely nothing can well be supposed more deplorable, than to be born under the curse of GOD; to be charged with _original guilt_; and not only so, but…
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1. As to the _first_, it informs us, that “as by the disobedience of one man, (or by one transgression, namely, that of _Adam_) many were made sinners; so by the obedience of one, JESUS CHRIST (therein including his passive as well as active obedience) many were made righteous.” And again, “As by the disobedience of on…
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But as we admire the Father sending, let us likewise humbly and thankfully adore the Son coming, when sent to die for man. But O! what thoughts can conceive, what words express the infinite greatness of that unparalleled love, which engaged the Son of GOD to come down from the mansions of his Father’s glory to obey and…
261 wordsSECTION 128SERMON XLVII.
The great Duty of Charity recommended. 1 CORINTHIANS xiii. 8. _Charity never faileth._ NOTHING is more valuable and commendable, and yet, not one duty is less practised, than that of charity. We often pretend concern and pity for the misery and distress of our fellow-creatures, but yet we seldom commiserate their co…
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Now, you may think nothing but of your pleasures and delights, of living in ease and plenty, and never consider how many thousands of your fellow-creatures would rejoice at what you are making waste of, and setting no account by. Let me beseech you, my rich brethren, to consider the poor of the world, and how commendab…
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They can visit the rich and the great, but the poor they cannot bear in their sight; they are forgetful, wilfully forgetful of the poor members of JESUS CHRIST. They have gone out of the old paths, and turned into a new polite way, but which is not warranted in the word of GOD: they are sunk into a fine way of acting;…
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It is not the preaching of that morality, which most of our pulpits now bring forth, that is sufficient to bring you from sin unto GOD. I saw you willing to learn, and yet were ignorant of the necessity of being born again, regenerated, of having all old things done away, and all things becoming new in your souls: I co…
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And it never faileth in respect of its proceeding from an unchangeable GOD. We are not to understand, that our charity is always the same: No, there may, and frequently are, ebbs and flowings; but still it never totally faileth: No, the grace of love remaineth for ever. There is, and will be, a charity to all who have …
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Consider how easy it is for many of you, by putting your mites together, to help one who is in distress; and how can you tell, but that the little you give, may be the means of bringing one from distress into flourishing circumstances; and then, if there is a true spirit of a christian in them, they can never be suffic…
283 wordsSECTION 134SERMON XLVIII.
Satan’s Devices. 2 CORINTHIANS ii. 11. _Lest Satan should get an advantage over us; for we are not ignorant of his devices._ THE occasion of these words was as follows: In the church of _Corinth_ there was an unhappy person, who had committed such incest, as was not so much as named among the _Gentiles_, in taking h…
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But what he is most remarkable for is, his _subtlety_: for not having power given him from above, to take us by force, he is obliged to wait for opportunities to betray us, and to catch us by guile. He, therefore, made use of the serpent, which was subtle above all the beasts of the field, in order to tempt our first p…
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But let not any of you be influenced by him, to despair of finding mercy. For it is not the greatness or number of our crimes, but impenitence and unbelief, that will prove our ruin: No, were our sins more in number than the hairs of our head, or of a deeper die than the brightest scarlet; yet the merits of the death o…
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Rejoice, therefore, my brethren, when you fall into the like circumstances; as knowing, that you are therein partakers of the sufferings of JESUS CHRIST. Consider, that it is necessary such inward trials should come, to wean us from the immoderate love of sensible devotion, and teach us to follow CHRIST, not merely for…
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Hitherto we have only observed such devices as Satan makes use of immediately by himself; but there is a _Fifth_ I shall mention, which is not the least, tempting us by our _carnal friends_ and _relations_. This is one of the most common, as well as most artful devices he makes use of, to draw young converts from GOD…
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In the mean while, let me exhort my young fellow-soldiers, who, like myself, are but just entring the field, and for whose sake this was written, not to be discouraged at the fiery trial wherewith they must be tried, if they would be found faithful servants of JESUS CHRIST. You see, my dearly beloved brethren, by what …
821 wordsSECTION 140SERMON XLIX.
On Regeneration. 2 CORINTHIANS v. 17. _If any man be in CHRIST, he is a new creature._ THE doctrine of our regeneration, or new birth in CHRIST JESUS, though one of the most fundamental doctrines of our holy religion; though so plainly and often pressed on us in sacred writ, “that he who runs may read;” nay though i…
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This is undoubtedly the proper meaning of the apostle’s expression in the words of the text; so that what he says in his epistle to the _Romans_ about circumcision, may very well be applied to the present subject; that he is not a real christian who is only one outwardly; nor is that true baptism, which is only outward…
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_First_, That GOD himself, in his holy word, hath told us so. Many texts might be produced out of the Old Testament to prove this point, and indeed, one would wonder how _Nicodemus_, who was a teacher in _Israel_, and who was therefore to instruct the people in the spiritual meaning of the law, should be so ignorant of…
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To enter indeed on a minute and particular description of heaven, would be vain and presumptuous, since we are told that “eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive, the things that are there prepared” for the sincere followers of the holy JESUS, even in this life, much …
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_First_, If he that is in CHRIST be a new creature, this may serve as a reproof for those who rest in a bare performance of outward duties, without perceiving any real inward change of heart. We may observe a great many persons to be very punctual in the regular returns of public and private prayer, as likewise of rec…
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_Fourthly_, If he that is in CHRIST be a new creature, then this may be prescribed as an infallible rule for every person of whatever denomination, age, degree or quality, to judge himself by; this being the only solid foundation, whereon we can build a well-grounded assurance of pardon, peace, and happiness. We may i…
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Indeed, was there no other reward attended a thorough conversion, but that peace of GOD, which is the unavoidable consequence of it, and which, even in this life, “passeth all understanding,” we should have great reason to rejoice. But when we consider, that this is the least of those mercies GOD has prepared for those…
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Christians, Temples of the living GOD. 2 CORINTHIANS vi. 16. _Ye are the Temple of the living God._ ISAIAH, speaking of the glory of gospel days, said, “Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O GOD, besides thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.” Chapter lxiv. 4. C…
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So far should we be from thus getting ease and comfort, that I believe we should on the contrary soon find by our experience the truth of what a hermit himself once told me, that a tree which stands by itself, is most exposed and liable to the strongest blasts. When our Saviour was to be tempted by the devil, he was le…
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The Jewish temple was also a place where the Great Jehovah was pleased in a more immediate manner to reside. Hence, he is said to put and record his name there, and to sit or dwell between the cherubims; and when _Solomon_ first dedicated it, we are told, “the house was filled with a cloud, so that the priests could no…
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I congratulate you from my inmost soul. O that your hearts may be in tune this day to “magnify the LORD,” and your spirits prepared to “rejoice in GOD your Saviour.” Like the Virgin _Mary_, you are highly favoured, and from henceforth all the generations of GOD’s people shall call you blessed. You can call CHRIST, Lord…
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♦ “spirituaul” replaced with “spiritual” O my brethren, how often have you and I been guilty of this great evil? How often have the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, insensibly stolen away our hearts from GOD? Once they were indeed houses of prayer; faith, hope, love, peace, joy, and all t…
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But the improvement of our subject must not end here. Hitherto I have been giving bread to the children; and it is my meat and drink so to do: but must nothing be said to those of you who are without? I mean to such who cannot yet say, that they are “the temple of the living GOD.” And O how great, put you all together,…
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CHRIST the only Preservative against a Reprobate Spirit. 2 CORINTHIANS xiii. 5. _Know ye not your ownselves, how that JESUS CHRIST is in you, except ye be Reprobates._ THE doctrines of the gospel are doctrines of peace, and they bring comfort to all who believe in them; they are not like the law given by _Moses_, wh…
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Now as man had sinned, and a satisfaction was demanded, it was impossible for a finite creature to satisfy him, who was a GOD of so strict purity as not to behold iniquity: And man by the justice of GOD would have been sent down into the pit, which was prepared of old for the devil and his angels; but when justice was …
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But man, unhappy man, being seduced by the devil, did eat of the forbidden fruit, and thereby became liable to that curse which the eternal GOD had pronounced on him for his disobedience. And we read, that soon after _Adam_ was fallen, he complained that he was naked; naked, not only as to his body, but naked and desti…
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This second person in the Trinity, who is God-man, the mediator of the new covenant; he, my brethren, hath virtue enough, in his blood, to atone for the sins of millions of worlds: As man he died, he was crucified, nailed to, and pierced on the accursed tree: This was the love of the LORD JESUS CHRIST for you; and will…
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A late learned Rabbi of our church, told the people, in a sermon, which I myself heard, that if people went to church of a Sunday, and said the prayers while there, that it was no harm, neither would GOD count it a sin, to take their recreation, after the service of the church was over: But I say, my brethren, and the …
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And if you are under afflictions, fly not to company to divert you, neither read what the world calls harmless books; they only tend to harden the heart, and to keep you from closing with the LORD JESUS CHRIST. When I was a child, yea, when I came to riper years, GOD knows, it is with grief I speak it, when ignorant o…
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The heinous Sin of Drunkenness. EPHESIANS v. 18. _Be not drunk with Wine, wherein is Excess; but be filed with the Spirit._ THE persons to whom these words were written, were the inhabitants of _Ephesus_, as we are told in the _Acts_, had been ♦worshippers of the great goddess _Diana_, and, in all probability, worsh…
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But, blessed be GOD, this charter, as well as all other privileges, is restored to us by the death of the second _Adam_, our LORD and Master JESUS CHRIST. Of every beast of the field, every fish of the sea, and whatsoever flieth in the air, or moveth on the face of the earth, that is fit for food, “we may freely eat,” …
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I know, indeed, that it is a common answer, which drunkards make to those, who, out of love, would pull them as firebrands out of the fire, we are no body’s enemy but our own. But this, instead of being an excuse for, is an aggravation of their guilt: for (not to mention that the drunkenness of one man has cloathed man…
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What horrid incest did righteous _Lot_ commit with his own daughters, when they had made him drunk? And, I doubt not, but there are many amongst you, who have committed such crimes when you have deprived yourselves of your reason by drinking, that were you to hear of them, your heart, like _Nabal_’s, after he was told …
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Behold then I have told you before; remember, that you this day were informed what the end of drunkenness would be. And I summon you, in the name of that GOD whom I serve, to meet me at the judgment-seat of CHRIST, that you may acquit both my Master and me; and confess, with your own mouths, that your damnation was of …
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And now, by way of conclusion, I cannot but exhort all persons, high and low, rich and poor, to practise a strict self-denial in eating and drinking. For though “the kingdom of GOD consists not in meats and drinks,” yet an abstemious use of GOD’s good creatures, greatly promotes the spiritual life. And perhaps there ar…
537 wordsSECTION 165SERMON LIII.
The Power of CHRIST’s Resurrection. PHILIPPIANS iii. 10. _That I may know Him, and the Power of his Resurrection._ THE apostle, in the verses before the text, had been cautioning the _Philippians_ to “beware of the concision,” _Judaizing teachers_, who endeavoured to subvert them from the simplicity of the gospel, b…
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It had pleased the Father (for ever adored be his infinite love and free grace) to wound his only Son for our transgressions, and to arrest and confine him in the prison of the grave, as our surety for the guilt we had contracted by setting at nought his commandments. Now had CHRIST continued always in the grave, we co…
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_Second_ thing I was to speak to, is, Whether we have experimentally known the power of his resurrection; that is, Whether or not we have received the Holy Ghost, and by his powerful operations on our hearts have been raised from the death of sin, to a life of righteousness and true holiness. It was this, the great ap…
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How greatly then do they err who rest in a bare historical faith of our Saviour’s resurrection, and look only for external proofs to evidence it? Whereas were we the most learned disputers of this world, and could speak of the certainty of this fact with the tongue of men and angels, yet without this inward testimony o…
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Had any one persuaded profane _Esau_ not to lose so glorious a privilege, merely for the sake of gratifying a present corrupt inclination, when he saw him about to sell his birth-right for a little red pottage, would not one think that man to have been _Esau_’s friend? And just thus stands the case between GOD and us. …
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Intercession every Christian’s Duty. 1 THESSALONIANS v. 25. _Brethren, pray for us._ IF we enquire, why there is so little love to be found amongst christians, why the very characteristic, by which every one should know that we are disciples of the holy JESUS, is almost banished out of the christian world, we shall …
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1. And first, our intercession must be _universal_. “I will, (says the apostle) that prayers, supplications and intercessions be made for all men.” For as GOD’s mercy is over all his works, as JESUS CHRIST died to redeem a people out of all nations and languages; so we should pray, that “all men may come to the knowled…
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Would men but constantly observe this direction, and when their ministers are praying in their name to GOD, humbly beseech him to perform all their petitions: or, when they are speaking in GOD’s name to them, pray that the Holy Ghost may fall on all them that hear the word; we should find a more visible good effect of …
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1. _First_, It will fill your hearts with love one to another. He that every day heartily intercedes at the throne of grace for all mankind, cannot but in a short time be filled with love and charity to all: and the frequent exercise of his love in this manner, will insensibly enlarge his heart, and make him partaker o…
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Imagine therefore, when you are lifting up holy hands in prayer for one another, that you see the heavens opened, and the Son of GOD in all his glory, as the great high-priest of your salvation, pleading for you the all-sufficient merit of his sacrifice before the throne of his heavenly Father! Join then your intercess…
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And now, “brethren, I commend you to GOD, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and give you an inheritance amongst all them that are sanctified.” May GOD reward you for all your works of faith, and labours of love, and make you to abound more and more in every good word and work towards all men.…
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Persecution every Christian’s Lot. 2 TIMOTHY iii. 12. _Yea, and all that will live godly in CHRIST JESUS, shall suffer Persecution_. WHEN our LORD was pleased to take upon himself the form of a servant, and to go about preaching the kingdom of GOD; he took all opportunities in public, and more especially in private,…
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This is to “live godly in CHRIST JESUS:” and hence we may easily learn, why so few suffer persecution? Because, so few live godly in CHRIST JESUS. You may live formally in CHRIST, you may attend on outward duties; you may live morally in CHRIST, you may (as they term it) do no one any harm, and avoid persecution: but t…
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_First_, This appears from the whole tenor of our LORD’s doctrine. We will begin with his divine sermon on the mount. “Blessed are they who are persecuted for righteousness sake; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” So that, if our LORD spoke truth, we are not so blessed as to have an interest in the kingdom of heaven…
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How can it be otherwise in the very nature of things? Ever since the fall, there has been an irreconcileable enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. Wicked men hate GOD, and therefore cannot but hate those who are like him: they hate to be reformed, and therefore must hate and persecute those,…
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_First_, To stand a while and examine themselves. For, by what has been said, you may gather one mark, whereby you may judge whether you are christians or not. Were you ever persecuted for righteousness sake? If not, you never yet lived godly in CHRIST our LORD. Whatever you may say to the contrary, the inspired apostl…
438 wordsSource & rights
Public domain in the USA; original historical text digitized by Project Gutenberg.
Project Gutenberg source record →
Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.